Rights of Future Generations: Alliances

Extractive relations between beings are reinforced by the social, technical and mental ecologies we inhabit, and that we continue to reproduce unthinkingly and unfeelingly. Without identifying the fact that the present state of affairs is not an accident of history, but rather a war waged against beings in order to condition them to accept their exploitation, we will never understand climate change on its proper terms – as a symptom of the eradication of alternative perspectives and ways of life.

Adrian Lahoud, curator of the first edition of Sharjah Architecture Triennial, expands on its themes and architecture's pivotal role in shaping intergenerational relationships, with kin that have passed, and those yet to come. This talk is organised by Sharjah Architecture Triennial and Ashkal Alwan.

Adrian Lahoud is Dean of the School of Architecture at the Royal College of Art London. He was Research Fellow on the Forensic Architecture project and head of the MA Research Architecture at Goldsmiths University. He has also led urban design programmes at the Architectural Association and University College London. Recent exhibits include: ‘Climate Crimes' in The Future Starts Here, The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2018; ‘The Shape of the Eclipse’ in Let’s Talk about the Weather: Art and Ecology in a Time of Crisis, Sursock Museum, Beirut, 2016; and ‘Secular Cosmologies’ in the Oslo Architecture Triennale 2016: After Belonging. Recent publications include: ‘The Mediterranean: A New Imaginary’ in New Geographies, Harvard University Press; ‘The Bodele Declaration’ in Grain, Vapour, Ray: Textures of the Anthropocene, MIT Press; and ‘Nomos and Cosmos’ in Supercommunity, MIT Press.